Rebirth in Hong Kong: From Dessert Shop to Industrial Empire

Chapter 12 Competition (Please add to your favorites, vote for this chapter, and recommend it to others!)

Chen Bingwen thought something serious had happened because of his mother's and Gao Zhenhai's expressions.

He laughed when he heard that a new dessert stall had appeared.

How can a normal market be without competition?

Selling sugar water through a factory-direct delivery model requires almost no technical expertise.

Anyone with the will to do it will quickly imitate it if they see a way to make money.

He had long anticipated the emergence of competitors; it was only a matter of time, and there was no need to make a fuss about it.

Moreover, he might see this situation as a good thing.

"Ah Hai, don't be nervous, this is a good thing."

Chen Bingwen patted Gao Zhenhai on the shoulder with a calm smile on his face, "If someone is imitating us, it means our model is correct."

Gao Zhenhai's eyes widened: "Brother Wen, they're stealing our business!"

Wang Qiaozhen, standing to the side, also turned pale: "Business had finally started to pick up."

"Mom, don't worry, there's always competition in business."

As he spoke, Chen Bingwen calmly poured himself a cup of tea and drank it down in one gulp. "How many workers are there in the Cheung Sha Wan and Lai Chi Kok industrial areas?"

"It's more than twenty or thirty thousand, right? With our current production capacity, how much sugar water can we make in a day?"

Chen's delivers twelve buckets of sweet soup to the factory area every day, with each bucket holding about 150 bowls.

Twelve buckets of sweet soup, at most enough to sell 1,800 bowls.

The entire industrial park has 20,000 to 30,000 workers. Even if only one-tenth of them want to drink sweet soup, that would still be two to three thousand bowls!

We haven't even met half of their needs yet. The market is huge.

Chen Bingwen put down his teacup and continued, "They can imitate our model, but they can't imitate our core strengths."

"What are your core advantages?" Chen Guofu couldn't help but ask.

“Three points.” Chen Bingwen held up his finger. “First, our family’s sweet soup recipe has been specially adjusted for our workers;

Secondly, our prices are so affordable that our workers can afford them without feeling guilty. Do they want to wage a price war? The costs are there; how long can they last?
Third, our current sugar water production capacity allows us to respond to market changes at any time, while they are just starting out, with limited production capacity and a limited scope of influence.

At this point, Chen Bingwen paused, and after Gao Zhenhai and his mother understood, he continued, "Actually, I hope there can be more of these dessert stalls, so that my later plans can be executed better."

Why do you want more?

Gao Zhenhai couldn't help but press for more information.

"You'll find out the specific reason in a while. Now, I'm giving you a task: go and investigate whether that dessert stall is just a single stall or has a shop supporting it."

Also, go to the labor department and recruit a few more people for me; we need to speed up our expansion.

Previously, Chen Bingwen wanted to rent a food processing plant, but he didn't have enough funds.

Now that we have an 80,000 yuan loan, this plan can finally be realized.

Chen's Dessert Shop is simply too small. It has to accommodate both dining area and production, leaving no room for other activities.

Now that we have the financial support, it's time to separate the production process.

Whether it was Wang Qiaozhen or Gao Zhenhai, seeing that Chen Bingwen didn't care at all about the newly appeared dessert stall, but instead looked confident, their tense nerves couldn't help but relax a bit.

"Okay, I'll do it right away."

Gao Zhenhai readily agreed.

After arranging Gao Zhenhai's work, Chen Bingwen asked Wang Qiaozhen, "Mom, do you know of any food processing plants that have stopped operating from here to the Changsha Bay area?"

Wang Qiaozhen thought for a moment, then shook her head and said, "Go ask Uncle Fu at the street corner, he might know." "That's right, Uncle Fu is the most well-informed. I'll go ask him right now."

At the newsstand on the street corner, Uncle Fu was wearing reading glasses and arranging newspapers.

Seeing Chen Bingwen approach, he greeted him with a smile, "Ah Wen, what newspaper do you want to buy today?"

"Uncle Fu, are there any food processing plants in our area that have stopped operating and need to step in?"

As Chen Bingwen spoke, he handed over a pack of Double Happiness cigarettes.

Uncle Fu took the cigarette, held it under his nose and sniffed it hard, then chuckled and joked, "Young man, you want to open a factory?"

Chen Bingwen chuckled but said nothing.

Uncle Fu didn't mind. He put the cigarette in his pocket, took off his reading glasses, and said, "My nephew worked at a food factory on Cheung Sha Wan Road, but it stopped operating last month."

His boss is emigrating and is preparing to sell the food factory.

My nephew told me that the food factory was fully equipped, even the steaming and cooking pots were newly purchased.

Chen Bingwen was overjoyed: "How big is it? How much is the rent?"

"I don't know. I'll call him over and you can ask him directly."

"Thank you so much, Uncle Fu."

Uncle Fu waved his hand, “Sham Shui Po is a torturous place. Young people like you shouldn’t stay here.”

As he spoke, he turned and went into the small cubicle behind the newsstand to make a phone call.

A moment later, Uncle Fu came out and said, "My nephew said he'll be here soon. Please sit down and wait a while."

Chen Bingwen sat down on a small stool next to the newsstand and casually picked up a copy of the "Industrial and Commercial Daily" to read.

About twenty minutes later, a young man in his early twenties wearing overalls rushed over. Uncle Fu introduced him: "This is my nephew, Zhong Qiang."

"Ah Qiang, this is Ah Wen from Chen's Dessert Shop. He wants to inquire about your boss's factory."

Ah-Qiang wiped his sweat and said directly, "The factory is at 38 Cheung Sha Wan Road, over 1,200 square feet. The equipment was all newly replaced last year. The boss is in a hurry to sell, so the price should be negotiable."

Chen Bingwen did the math in his head: 1,200 square feet, which is close to 110 square meters. The area isn't large, but it would be sufficient if it were used solely as a central kitchen for producing syrup.

"Brother Qiang, can you take me to see it?"

“Right now!” A-Qiang readily agreed. “The boss has given me all the keys and said he’ll take anyone who wants to see the factory.”

The two quickly arrived at 38 Cheung Sha Wan Road. Pushing open the factory door, Chen Bingwen saw three stainless steel cooking pots neatly arranged in the spacious room, along with packaging machines, steamers, and other equipment and tools.

Chen Bingwen walked up to the equipment and examined it carefully.

Even though the equipment has been shut down for some time, there is not a single stain on it, which shows that it was cleaned and maintained very well before.

Chen Bingwen sincerely praised, "These devices look very good."

“This place used to make preserved duck. The equipment was just replaced last year. If the owner’s son hadn’t been in Canada and we hadn’t been in a hurry to get him over, we wouldn’t have been willing to sell it.”

Ah Qiang proudly gave his introduction.

"Brother Qiang, how much is your boss asking for?"

"Including the equipment, it'll cost 30,000 a year. But the boss said we can discuss it further if you're really interested."

Upon hearing the price, Chen Bingwen felt a chill; it was certainly not cheap.

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(End of this chapter)